This invention relates to a method and system for reverse and reengineering existing parts, such as turbine blades, and to a method for manufacturing parts. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for reverse and reengineering existing parts, by developing parametric master models for part designs and tooling master models for tooling geometries, and to a method of manufacturing employing the parametric and the tooling master models.
Machines subjected to harsh operating conditions include a variety of parts that must be replaced throughout the service life of the machine. For example, a turbine engine includes turbine blades and vanes requiring periodic repair or replacement due to extreme thermal operating conditions. Due to long service lives for the machines, a large number of the parts currently in service have no drawings for the part design or the tooling, due to poor archiving and storage. Moreover, only recently has the development and manufacturing of parts moved into the era of three-dimensional (3D) models and other electronic engineering systems. Accordingly, for older parts, even where drawings have been retained, only two-dimensional (2D) drawings are available for the part design and, on occasion, for the tooling.
In these circumstances, replacement of the worn parts typically requires reverse engineering the part from an available physical specimen, which attempts to make a close copy of the part. However, in many cases technology has improved since the part was designed. Accordingly, it is often beneficial to re-engineer the part through redesign, the incorporation of new materials, and/or manufacturing improvements, in order to improve the performance, service life, and/or reliability of the part. However, due to the absence of 3D part design and tooling drawings for older parts, such parts must be re-engineered, starting from an available physical specimen.
Current reverse and re-engineering processes are time consuming and laborious. For example, complex machines such as landing gears typically require an eighteen to twenty-four (18–24) month cycle to create the forging, resulting in a total cycle time of two to three years to obtain a reverse or reengineered landing gear that has been machined, shot-peened, and painted. Moreover, current reverse engineering processes for parts with any complexity requires a considerable amount of part-family specific engineering knowledge and judgment. Thus, the engineer performing the reverse engineering must be experienced in reverse engineering the same type of parts. This requirement increases cycle time and reduces throughput due to the short supply of such engineers possessing such part-family specific experience.
Current reverse and re-engineering (collectively called “re-engineering” herein) processes fail to include appropriate enablers that facilitate the engineering process as a whole. Commercially available tools marketed as reverse engineering tools typically address localized geometry reconstruction for certain classes of parts. However, the commercial tools typically are applicable only to less than about five percent (5%) of the reverse engineering cycle. Consequently, conventional reengineering processes remain labor intensive for the experienced engineers. Moreover, sole reliance on experienced engineers, to apply part design and tooling design rules, makes it easy to overlook design rules that could prove critical to the function of the part.
It would therefore be desirable to develop a method and system for obtaining functional equivalents or upgrades for parts (reverse or re-engineer the part) where only the physical part or incomplete design information is available. It would further be desirable for the method and system to apply knowledge acquired through part and tooling design experience, in order to reduce the burdens of reverse and reengineering complex parts on experienced engineers. In addition, it would be desirable for the method and system to integrate information across the design system and database, to ensure the consistency of application models used to develop and evaluate part design and tooling geometries.